TALIBON. – Investigators are facing a blank wall as to who were responsible in dumping waste oil off this coastal town as the oil spill has already adversely affected the neighboring island barangays, coastal resource officer Jose “Lolong” Garcia of the BEMO said in an interview. This surfaced following the initial probe last week by the Bohol Coastal Resource Management Task Force (BCRMTF) to find out the culprit of the oil spill that is now widespread and has reached the island barangays of Nocnocan and Saag, off this town. Garcia said. Earlier, the oil spill polluted first the island barangay of Bilangbilangan Dako, then, it did not spare barangay Busalian in the island of Jao, where hectares of mangrove trees were contaminated. The move was prompted following Gov. Edgar Chatto’s order for the task force to conduct the investigation and initiate measures to contain the spill that already harmed the mangrove trees in barangay Busalian, a barangay in Jao island and island barangay Bilangbilangan Dako of this town.

The waste oil was allegedly dumped by M/V Elizabeth passing here bound for Surigao from Cebu near the island barangay of Bilangbilangan Dako, Bien-Unido town on January 6, 2012, based on the police report. Some fishermen also reported having seen already the presence of used oil in the seawater a hundred meters away from the shoreline. But nobody from the island residents actually saw the vessel that actually caused the dumping of the sludge, Garcia earlier said. Garcia said, in an exclusive interview yesterday, that there are two fishermen (names are withheld) who saw the passing vessel on that fateful day but could not pinpoint if they actually saw the oil dumping. He said that the task force was coordinating with barangay officials here, calling those who can testify of the oil spillage to come out to help run after the culprit. There was no estimate yet on the damage, he said.

Canda, meanwhile, predicted that the mangrove trees wreaked by oil spill are certain to wilt due to the contamination. They’ll eventually die because of failure of photosynthesis in the plants, he said. Based on the initial findings conducted young mangroves are mostly affected because their leaves were visibly engulfed by the oil spill as shown in most of the photos taken for documentation. The task force composed of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG-Bohol), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Philippines Information Agency (PIA), Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO) and representatives of other agencies concerned is headed by Nestor Canda, officer-in-charge of Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office of the provincial DENR. Canda presided over the task force meeting last week at the Capitol for the conduct of the investigation. (RVO)